GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 20 May 1915, Page 51

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mb. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

TREES AND SHRUBS: WHERE AND WHEN _ ' TO PLANT.-- m -:■-*& . ■-;■• s*; The following notes -are taken from a paper read by me many years ago before the Christchurch Horticultural Society:— • .-,.-.■ f'%*: | >. .- \ As the time is now at hand for the laying out of gardens, and plantations, the subject which I have chosen is very'appropriate. The information given here will be of use to anyone who is not well up in the names and habits of the different trees and shrubs suitable for gardens, lawns, etc. It is most important that the proper class of trees and shrubs should be selected for planting, as trees suitable for large grounds are altogether out of place in a small garden. Judicious planting at first is a very great .saving of time and money. When each tree and shrub is planted in its proper place, there is no need in after years to remove unsuitable ones, as is very often the case in some old gardens. We have very often seen pinus insignis, macrocarpa, blue gum, and wattle occupying positions which should be given up to nice ornamental trees or shrubs. The outcome of this injudicious planting is that many specimens have to be removed when they have out-grown their position, and have destroyed a considerable number of other trees and shrubs, which are usually planted to fill up spaces under them. I will now give a list of the trees and shrubs which deserve a place in the garden and plantations, with a description of their habits and manner of growth. I shall begin with the class of evergreens called conifers or cone-bearing trees. These trees usually grow very tall, and are therefore suitable for large gardens,, and should be planted a good distance from the house. They make excellent shelter belts, but if planted too closely they very often keep out the sun. These trees are very suitable for planting out as single specimens on the lawn, or in clumps away in the paddocks fronting on the house. Large clumps of these trees planted in situations have a very good effect on the landscape. They are also suitable for avenues and carriage drives on a large estate. When allowed plenty of room to grow they make beautiful specimens. They should be always properly thinned out, as they expand, and should not be allowed to encroach on one another. When treated in this manner they grow into pyramids, with branches spreading from the ground, and when well grown form noble trees. Commencing with the redwood trees, there are only too varieties of this species that I have any knowledge of. These trees are natives of California, and grow to be the largest trees that we- know of. There is a large piece of bark taken from a trunk of one of these in the British Museum, and a carriage and pair of horses can be driven through it. This will give an idea of their size. They go under the botanical name of sequoia. One is called sequoia gigantea, but is better known as Wellingtonia gigantea. The other is named sequoia sempervireus. Both grow in their native habitat to the height of 300 feet, and 20 feet in diameter, so that undoubtedly they are the giants of the forest. From this description the amateur planter will be a judge of where to place a specimen in his garden. Another class of large growing trees are the cedars. They also make grand specimens on a large lawn, and an avenue of them makes a fine sight. The cedar of Lebanon is a noble tree which grows to a height of 100 feet, with large spreading branches. Another variety is the ceder deodara (the sacred tree of the Hindus), or the Himalayan cedar. This tree has a fine drooping habit, and makes a beautiful specimen on a large lawn. It also grows to a height of about 100 feet. There is another, called the Mount Atlas or African cedar It has more of an upright growth, and resembles the other two in habit and appearance. It also deserves a conspicuous place on the lawn or plantation. The foliage of the cedars resembles the English larch. There is another tree called the Virginian cedar, which re-

sembles' a juniper in foliage. It has a very strong'scent, and deserves a place in the plantation. The wood' is of a reddish color, and is used a good deal for making lead pencils. There is another variety of trees called cryptomeria, natives of Japan. There are only two varieties to be found in our gardens is crypto-; meria elegans, and the other is cryptomeria Japonica. Elegans has a dense foliage, and very red, especially in the winter. Japonica has a horizontal habit; and looks quite different in appearance to elegans. They are worthy of a prominent place in the garden. " The foliage of Japonica resembles the Wellingtonia. They grow to a height of about 30 feet. Another pretty class of Japanese trees are the retinosporas. They are very suitable for planting in a small garden, and will also grace a larger one, as they make very pretty specimens. Retinospora plumosa has a very fine plume-like foliage. Another compact upright-growing tree is retinospora leptoclada. Its foliage is different and lighter than the former. Ericoides is a much dwarfer tree, with foliage like the heath. There are several other varieties which grow from 10 to 30 feet high. There is another tree, a native of Japan, called thujopsis dolobrata, which makes a very nice specimen, and has very green and singular foliage, quite different from any other tree. It grows to a height of 60 feet, and deserves a conspicuous place on the lawn. The cupressus Lawsoniana, or Lawson's Cyprus, is a native of America, and a most useful tree for gardens, drives, or plantations. They make grand shelter trees, and no one would go wrong in planting them largely. They have a most graceful habit, and make beautiful specimens when grown where they have plenty of room. There are a few varieties, one being a variegated one, named Arm--strongi, after a Mr. Armstrong, a late curator of the Christchurch Public Gardens. There are also an upright growing variety, and one with golden foliage. They grow to about 50 feet high. Another tree like the Lawsoniana is called libocedrus decurrens, which grows to a height of 100 feet. It is more robust in habit than Lawsoniana, more erect, and makes a fine ornamental tree for a lawn. The thuja lobbii, another Californian tree, grows to about 60 feet. It is somewhat like the Lawsoniana in habit and appearance, but the foliage is of a brown color. It makes a beautiful specimen tree, and deserves to be largely planted. When full grown it has a very graceful appearance on a lawn. Its foliage has a very sweet scent. A tree which resembles it, but has a lighter foliage, is cupressus nootkaensis, a native of North America. This also looks well on a lawn. The cupressus torulosa, a native of India, is also a very fine tree ; it grows to a height of 80 feet, and forms a compact pyramid, being suitable for a large place. Then there is the upright and horizontal cyprus, a native 'of the South of Europe, which grows to about 50 feet. Cupressus frenella, a native of Australia, also deserves a place in the garden. It has a dark drooping foliage, and grows to about 30 feet. The Chinese funeral cyprus (cupressus funebris) is another tree suitable for the lawn or shrubbery. Cupressus macrocarpa, goveniana, knighti, and lusitanica are all very large growing trees, which resemble one another in foliage and habit. They must be planted for shelter Felts, for which they are most suitable, as they grow from 80 to .100 feet. The dwarf arborvitae is a nice subject to plant in a conspicuous place. It does not grow tall, and its golden - k foliage looks very pretty when planted out singly on the lawn or borders. The yews are very old favorites, the English grow horizontally and the Irish close and upright, to a height of about 30 feet. , On account of its close upright habit the Irish yew is very much planted in cemeteries. Another very fine class of trees are the picea (spruce firs) and the abies. The piceas are very fine species of trees, which attain a height of about 100 feet. Picea nordmaniana is a beautiful tree with very dark spreading foliage, and has a fine appearance when well grown. It is a native of the Caucasus. Picea pinsapo is another of the same species. It is a native of Spain. All the piceas, of which .there are several varieties, deserve to be largely planted. They

make fine timber trees, and so do all the abies, ’ such douglasi and menziesi. Those two trees are natives’ 1 of California, and grow to a height of a hundred feet. They are most suitable for large plantations and shelter belts. The menziesi is , subject to a disease, and on that account it is not planted so much as it was. , It may do well in a colder locality • than Christchurch, but here it will not succeed on account of the attacks of a kind of red spider, which completely destroys the foliage. The abies alba and abies excelsa (the Norway spruce) are also subject to the ravages of the red spider, but the douglasi is immune front it. The wood of the Norway spruce is known as the Baltic, and the menziesi and douglasi are what we call* Oregon timber. , The next article will be on deciduous flowering trees and shrubs suitable for the garden, which will be followed by one on evergreen trees and shrubs.